Adrian Rosas September 2013 Scholar of the Month

As the son of immigrant farm workers, I too have worked the fields, and during my summer breaks I continue to help my father work in the fields. I have managed to apply that hard work ethic to my educational life. I am not a student that started college straight out of high school. Life had to throw some curve balls at me, so that I could open my eyes and see things how they are truly made to be. After high school, I had no hope of pursuing a higher education because nobody that I was involved with thought of that being an option. I never envisioned young Latino males having any kind of role rather than performing hard labor, or anything that required critical thinking. I have since proved that those lies are dead! As I become involved in more intense courses, it seems to me that I am not the smartest student in the classroom, but because I have the ability to practice the principle of perseverance I manage to perform better than my classmates. School life continues to put obstacles in front of me, yet I do not allow those obstacles to dictate my future. I know that I have the ability to pursue an engineering degree, so that is what I have set my career goals on. I am going to be a Civil Engineer because infrastructures and skyscrapers are my passion.

I also have a strong passion to helping disenfranchised Latino youth better themselves. I have recently started a school club called H.O.P.E. which stands for “helping our people excel.” The fellow founding members of the club have also nominated me as their official club president. I am very much grateful for the opportunity that I have of pursuing a higher education because my parents sacrificed a lot so that I can have the life that I have now. Every day I do my best to show that gratitude, I do it in the form of getting A’s and B’s in my exams. I do it for them, and more importantly for myself. I participated in the Puente program at American River College, and for our final we had to give a speech. Family, friends and faculty were all present. I will never forget the look in my Mother’s face, words cannot express it! I would love to see sons and daughters whose parents are also immigrant farm workers express that same gratitude. Unfortunately because of the community that I grew up in, there are very few if any positive Latino role models. I have taken it upon myself to do my part, and inject them with the hope that says if he can do it then so can I! I want to give back to my community because I am a product of it. If I want to see my community prosper, there has to be someone to lead them towards that direction.